Murder House
by Lunaandtwilight07
Summary: Regina is dead, she knows she's dead, but she hasn't moved on, she's stuck, destined to remain for all eternity in this house with other ghosts. When new residents in the form of a man and his son move in, she decides that she needs to keep them safe, but gets more than she bargained for when she begins falling for him. (Loosely based on the Murder House from American Horror Story)


**Hi! So, this story is very loosely based around season one of American Horror Story, when I say loosely I mean it's literally only the house. There are triggers for murder and modest violence, there are also a couple of smutty moments. Hopefully it has a little bit of everything and apparently, I can't write anything scary without it having humour in it! Lots of OutlawQueen and DimplesQueen feels.**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Regina took a deep breath and shook her head, she was stuck in this house with these people for the rest of eternity. There was the crazy doctor or scientist, whatever he was, David Nolan, the man who stated all this and his wife Mary Margaret, they were the ones who had built this house. After something tragic happened to their baby and David tried to fix it, creating some sort of hybrid demon child, the wife had slowly lost her mind and murdered her husband then herself, starting off this god darn curse. Anyone who died here, stayed here.

Also living in the, as it had become know, 'Murder House', was Jefferson Hatter, a mass murder who had been shot on sight after killing fifteen students at a nearby school. Yeah, he was a psycho, but apparently she had a way with him, she could calm him down when she needed to, mainly to stop him from killing the residents of the house, usually because one of other spirits asked him to.

There was Red, she worked as a house keeper; to the women of the house she would appear as an old lady, caring and considerate, however to the men, she was sex on legs, something to be ogled and objectified, it was a weird habit, but she wasn't really hurting anyone with what she did.

Then there were the newest additions, Emma, Neal and Henry, they had moved to this place for a fresh start and well, that had gone kinda wrong and they all ended up dead, so they joined the crew.

There were more that she didn't know the names of, mainly because she was a very keep yourself to yourself kinda ghost, she didn't really like to socialise with the other undead. There was a young girl about the same age as Henry, Violet her name was, apparently, they had become close friends. Regina had befriended Henry after his death, he had walked into the library and caught her reading, then he had begun talking to her about how cool it was to live forever and she had just shaken her head and said that he must be crazy, but they all were right, they were ghosts.

Regina had lived in this house in ninety-eight and had been strangled by her boyfriend, it might sound awful, but it made her immortal, allowed her to live forever under this roof with a bunch of creepy weirdos. She rubbed the back of her neck and it made a clicking noise as it often did, that was another thing, however a person died, their injuries usually followed them, so they would have the marks of how they died, but none of the pain, considering they couldn't feel.

Moving over to the window, she saw that same estate agent pull up and a man and his small son got out of the car, she frowned and shook her head, this was no place for children. She moved closer to the window to get a better look, the man was rather handsome from what she could see and his son was just adorable, they would be eaten alive by the residents of this house.

She sighed and made it so that no one could see her, before venturing downstairs to see who the potential buyers were, she stood at the bottom of the stairs as the door opened and the woman came into sight.

"It's a classic LA Victorian. Built in around 1920 by the doctor to the stars at the time, it's just fabulous." Regina sniggered, doctor to the stars her ass, more like murdering creep, so he had done a couple of backstreet abortions, that hardly made Dodgy David a doctor to the stars, he was as mad as a box of frogs, nearly as crazy as the aptly named Hatter. "These are real Tiffany fixtures. As you can see, the previous owners really loved this place. They restored everything."

Regina rolled her eyes, she still had the same sales pitch, it was insane, nearly twenty years later and she still spouted the same crap in attempt to sell the house, she had just been one of the many to fall for it. She had been transfixed on this magnificent house with all it's amazing history, so much for that, really, this house should come with a list of all the extra residents you'd have to house share with, because to be honest, it was getting a little crowded. Since she'd been living here, there had been at least a dozen new additions, the times when the house was vacant were the best, she could do anything, go anywhere without having to worry about bumping into a living home owner.

She sat on a bar stool at the kitchen counter as she stared at this newbie, he was hot, she'd give him that. He had a layer of stubble covering his jaw, his eyes were a dazzling bright blue colour that made her breath catch. He looked down at his son and smiled, she nearly fell off her chair, he had the most amazing dimples she had ever seen. She tucked her hair behind her ear as she watched him.

"What do you think Ro?" He asked, tousling his son's hair.

"I think it's scary," the small boy whispered, hugging his father's leg. She felt sorry for him, because he was right, this was a scary place and he should be scared, in fact this man should take his adorable son and get as far away from this place as he possibly could.

"That's only because it's big," the man lifted his son up onto his hip as he bopped his nose playfully.

"The furnishings are from the previous owners, but I'm sure if you see anything you like there shouldn't be a problem with purchasing."

The man nodded and looked around, "may I just ask, why is the asking price so below others?" Regina shook her head, probably because if you moved in, you would get yourself haunted by ghosts and probably end up dead in some way or another. Or more likely that all other previous owners had died in the house, usually tragically.

"In the interest of full disclosure, I must inform you that the previous owners passed away in the house."

"Oh," the man looked at his son and back to the woman, "it wasn't murder, was it?"

Not this time, Regina thought, well, unless you classed spirits turning on the gas and murdering someone to make it look like suicide, as murder it wasn't. "No, it wasn't murder."

"Okay, can we see the rest of it?"

"Yes of course, follow me."

Regina groaned and rubbed her hands over her face, he was going to buy it, she knew he was, he had that look, the look everyone got when they viewed the house. This was a nightmare, it really was, she was sure he probably didn't deserve anything that was going to come his way, maybe she'd have to step out of the shadows a bit and make sure that nobody hurt the father and son, she couldn't let that happen.

They came back downstairs and he was nodding, "so Mr Locksley, I will have the paperwork for you to sign and you can move in next week."

"Great, that's really great."

Regina shook her head, he had no idea what he was in for.

* * *

As expected a week later the removal vans showed up and this man and his son moved into the house. Later that night, Regina made sure she was presentable, and picked a bottle of wine out from the stash in the basement, before walking out the backdoor and around to the front. She straightened her red dress and made sure that the finger marks which were a permanent fixture on her neck were out of sight, before knocking on the door, this time he would be able to see her.

She knocked again and took a deep breath, this had to go well, if she had any chance of making sure that the father and son didn't get hurt. She saw a shadow behind the door then heard a voice behind her, "watcha doing?"

"Henry," she gasped shaking her head, "I am greeting the new owners."

"Oh, can I greet them with you?"

She rolled her eyes and scoffed, "no, Henry, now quick, get out of sight before he answers the door… hi," she smiled as she saw the owner stood in the doorway, Henry was still stood next to her, smiling up at the man. "You must be the new neighbour," she quipped, extending her free hand to shake his, "Regina Mills."

"Robin Locksley," he smirked as he admired her, "is this your son?" He asked gesturing to Henry.

"Oh, no, no, he's just a nosy neighbourhood kid," she chuckled, ruffling his hair.

"Hmm, Gina is my friend," he grinned, hugging her.

"Henry," she laughed falsely, not that anyone would know, "I think you should probably get home before your mother misses you."

"Oh yeah," he grinned and went to walk inside, she reached out and pulled him back gently by his collar.

"Henry, your own home dear," she eyed him, reminding him that this man in front of them had no clue they were dead.

"Yep," he turned around and walked towards the gate, which they both knew he couldn't leave through, he would only end up in the back yard again, she had discovered that when she had tried to leave after she first joined the land of the departed.

"Bye," she waved before turning back to Robin, "he means well, he can just be a little forgetful," she smiled, noticing that he was staring at her. "I brought a bottle," she held it up.

"Yes, of course, come in," he nodded opening the door wider so that she could come inside.

"Thank you," she chuckled, moving through the small gap between him and the door frame. It was quite ironic being invited inside her own house; she hadn't allowed a home owner to see her, ever, so this was a first for her, she usually kept herself to herself, reading ever single book in the house, praying that the new owner would bring something new. However, the invention of the internet and computers had been a god send, apparently, eBooks were all the rage. "You have a beautiful home, are those light fixtures Tiffany?" she asked, smirking at the look on his face.

"Yes, how did you know that?"

I've only listened to that terrible woman say it about twenty times, she thought, "I like antiques, 1920s, right?"

"Yeah, I think so." He looked impressed and invited her into the kitchen.

"Do you have some glasses?" she asked, gesturing to the bottle in her hand.

"Yes, they're in a box somewhere. I apologise for the mess, I wasn't expecting any company."

"Oh no worries, I wasn't expecting your house to be all finished, I figured you must have had a very busy day and thought why not bring a nightcap. Although I suppose wine isn't really a nightcap is it, probably should have brought something a little stronger."

"No, wine is perfect," he routed around in a box and found some mugs, sighing he shook his head, "I have these."

"Perfect," she laughed, unscrewing the top of the bottle and pouring some into the mugs. Looking up at him, her smile faltered somewhat when she saw Jefferson stood behind him with his eyebrows raised.

"New meat," he chuckled, lucky he was in spirit form, so only she could see or hear him.

"Are you okay?" Robin asked, picking up his mug.

"Yes, I'm fine," she smiled, taking a sip from her own and hearing a creak on the stairs, she closed her eyes and hoped to god one of the residents wasn't already playing silly tricks. "So you have a son?"

"Yes, how did you know that?"

She looked around and spotted a stuffed toy on the side, "unless you liked to play with teddy bears, then I'm guessing there's a child."

"Roland, he's four."

"That's lovely," she smiled sadly, she would never be able to have children of her own, she had been killed, the dead couldn't reproduce.

"So do you have…"

"No, I wasn't blessed with children."

"Still time," he grinned taking a swig of wine from his mug.

She shook her head and sighed, "I don't think so, I can't have babies," she whispered.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"It's okay," she chuckled, "I think I came to terms with that a long time ago." It wasn't even as if the dating pool was all that big in this god forsaken place, even if it was increasing, there wasn't a single available man in the whole of the house, except for Jefferson and he was completely cuckoo.

There was a loud bang from upstairs and she had almost forgotten that he his son wasn't down here with them, "what was that?"

"Is your son upstairs alone?" She asked.

"Yes, but I hardly think he's capable of making that racket."

"Better go save the boy Regina," Jefferson chuckled, "you know Mary has a thing for children."

Her eyes went wide and she shot up from her chair, "I think we should probably go upstairs and check on him, now." She went in front of him, hurrying upstairs and into the bedroom she knew they had set up as the boys, she had watched them all day as they moved in, in fact she knew that he was looking in the wrong box for wine glasses and that they were accidentally placed in the upstairs bedroom. The boy was sat upright, rocking himself as he cried.

That was when she saw who had caused the noise, it was the two boys who loved to scare everyone, they were about ten the same age as Henry, but they were punks and real pains. "Go away, go away," she stated so that Robin and his son couldn't hear her. She stood by the door as she watched Robin comfort the young boy.

"Roland, it's okay," he sighed, rocking him gently.

He sniffled and looked towards her with his big brown eyes filled with tears, "who is that?" He asked.

"This is Regina, she's our new neighbour."

"Hi Roland," she smiled, walking further into the room, "do you mind if I sit here?" she questioned, gesturing to the bottom of his bed. He shook his head and she grinned at him, "thank you. Why are you crying?" she asked, playing with his foot as it knocked against her.

"I saw something."

"Ah, we all see things," she stated, "listen to me Roland, all you have to say is, go away, if you tell them to go away, they will, I promise you," she had learnt that lesson from Jefferson and had actually used it on him a couple of times.

"Go away."

Her eyes flickered and she nodded, "don't say it now," god the last thing she wanted to do was for him to tell her to go away before she had even had chance to explain what this house was. How was she supposed to explain that she had disappeared because he had told her to and that she was dead? "But that's how it works," she chuckled. "Don't worry, I think you've scared them away."

"Do you think?" he asked a grin appearing on his features.

"Definitely," she smiled, before looking up at Robin, "I think I'm going to see myself out."

"No, wait," he stood up and kissed Roland's head, "do you think you can be a brave boy for me? Yeah? Good."

"Night night Regina," he whispered, burying his head in the pillow. Her heart fluttered, she was in love with him already, he was so beautiful, completely adorable.

"Night night Roland, don't forget what I said."

"I won't," he smiled.

"Good," she chuckled, before leaving the room and taking a deep breath, she was supposed to be sending them away, she couldn't risk them getting hurt for her own selfish needs, it wasn't fair and it wasn't right. She walked downstairs and lent against the wall, waiting for Robin to come back down.

"What are you doing?" Jefferson asked, sneaking up behind her.

"Getting to know our new owners," she scoffed.

"Why? You never bothered before."

"Hmm, I know, well, I guess these ones are different."

"You like him."

"What?" she rose her eyebrows.

"The man, you like him; want me to kill him for you? That way you can keep him."

"No! I don't want you to kill him," she spat, shaking her head, Jefferson was so twisted it was untrue.

"Well, the offers open," he shrugged before disappearing as Robin came downstairs.

"Is he okay?" she asked, casting him a smile as she stood upright.

"He is now, I think your little game might have worked."

"Oh good." She nodded, moving towards the door.

"Do you have to go? I mean, we hardly had any time to get to know one another."

"No we didn't, I suppose I could stay for a little while," she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she smirked at him, following him back to the kitchen. If she thought about it, it had been way too long since she had some attention from a man, she missed it, she missed flirting.

* * *

Apparently, ghosts could get drunk, now that was something she hadn't know, if she had, she would have spent more time doing so. At that precise moment, she was sat at the opposite side of the kitchen island to Robin, swaying a little as she downed a shot of something, she didn't know exactly what it was, but it couldn't kill her, so where was the harm in drinking it?

"You are a very beautiful woman," he stated, he was slightly tipsy also, she could tell from the way his words had a slight slur to them.

"Oh I know," she giggled, putting the glass down on the counter and looking up at him, his blue eyes were shining as they met hers and she felt her stomach start to do little somersaults, she didn't think that it was because of the alcohol.

"How is it that you don't have someone?"

"I'm dead," she burst, letting out a little bought of laughter.

He sniggered and shook his head, "okay then."

"Hmm, very dead, very, very dead, died right here," she nodded, "in this house."

"Right," he chuckled, taking the lid off the bottle and pouring her another drink.

"I do think Mr Locksley, that you are trying to get me drunk."

"I think we're both already drunk Miss Mills."

"Oh yeah," she smiled, toying with her hair as she looked at him.

"So if you're dead, how did you die?"

"That is a very personal question," she scoffed, standing up and moving over to his side, pressing a finger to his lips, realising that they were warm and soft against her ice-cold skin.

"You're cold." He stated, kissing her fingers gently.

"Hmm," she nodded.

"Let's move into the living room," he wrapped an arm around her and they moved into the sitting room, he lit the fire and they warmed their hands on it. Somehow though she couldn't feel it's heat, which was strange as she could feel it from Robin. She turned to look at him, they were sat so close together on the floor in front of the fire, her feet were tucked under her as she stared at him, he really was handsome. His hand came to cup her cheek and she gasped at the warmth she felt. "You're freezing," he whispered.

"I know," she shrugged, "I told you, I'm dead."

"Oh I forgot, I think you were telling me how you died."

She swallowed and cast him a sad smile, he thought she was joking, thought that it was all a game, little did he know that she was telling him the truth, "I was strangled."

"Right, how original," he smirked, "you couldn't have come up with a more creative way to die?"

"Just telling you the truth," she chuckled, placing her hand over the top of his as they looked into each other's eyes.

"I really want to kiss you right now."

"I won't stop you," she breathed, shuffling closer, she hadn't had any contact with anyone in nearly twenty years and maybe it was the alcohol going to her head, but she needed to feel something, she knew she wasn't supposed to, she was dead and he was alive, but that didn't make her want it any less.

He smirked and moved in, his lips finding hers as his hand slipped around to cup her head; warmth spread through her as she moaned against his lips, moving closer so that she could touch him. She knew this was wrong, spirits shouldn't get involved with humans, it wasn't how it was supposed to go, they were meant to stay with their own kind, but she just couldn't stay away from him. Before she knew it, she was straddling his lap and deepening the kiss, it was insane, how was it even possible? She wasn't supposed to feel anything, but god she felt something right now, for the first time in twenty years she felt something!

His hand came to the buttons on her dress and she stopped, pulling back quicker than humanly possible, "no!"

He furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at her before his eyes widened. She knew he'd seen it, that he'd undone enough buttons for it to be visible. "Oh my god, Regina, who did that? Who did that to your neck?" Apparently, they had both sobered up somewhat in the last half minute.

She shook her head, "it's fine."

"Did someone try to strangle… oh my god… oh my god!"

"Don't freak out."

"I laughed and someone is trying to hurt you, I thought you were joking, when you said that you were strangled, but that was your way of asking for help right?"

Okay, so he just thought she was alive and a sufferer of domestic abuse, he didn't believe the whole dead thing. The look on his face made her heart beat that much faster, well it would if she had an actual body. "I'm fine," she shrugged.

"Those finger marks on your neck are telling me otherwise."

"Yeah, well, he's gone," she stated, "he's not coming back."

He traced the marks gently, "shit, he must have squeezed pretty hard."

"You have no idea," she rolled her eyes, he had squeezed hard enough to close off her windpipe and suffocate her, but she was over it, "I think I should be going now," she whispered, standing up, "thank you for a great night."

"Is it safe for you to go home?"

"Yes," she nodded, she was home and no, it wasn't really, but she was dead, it was all good.

"Okay," he moved her hair behind her ear and kissed her lips one last time, "night Regina."

"Goodnight Robin," she smiled, "I'll see you around."

"Do you want to come to dinner tomorrow night?"

"I would love to," she chuckled, kissing his cheek as she traced it.

"Seven o'clock?"

"I can't wait." She walked out of the front door, closing it behind her, before becoming invisible again and coming back in the back door. She watched him as he shook his head; running his hands through his hair, he walked up the stairs. She followed him into his room and watched as he removed his clothes, leaving himself in his boxers, he readjusted them before letting out a sigh.

She moved her hand to her mouth and bit her nail as she watched him from her position perched on his bed, she knew she shouldn't be in here, but she was a ghost, she could go wherever she wanted. He looked like he was contemplating something, he sat down on the other side of the bed to her and lay down. She moved to lay beside him and turned on to her side as she looked at his face, he had a perfect face. She wished she knew what he was thinking about that that moment as he brought his lip in between his teeth. Then his hand slipped down his body and under then hem of his boxer, "no," he shook his head, "I shouldn't be thinking about her like this."

Her eyebrows nearly left her face she had risen them so high, was he going to touch himself whilst thinking about her? Apparently, that was exactly what was happening, because he was pumping his cock as his eyes closed. She let out a moan as she watched him, watched his hand as he worked on himself. "Regina," he breathed, shaking his head as his hand carried on with its movement, "oh Regina."

Oh my god, this was so hot, he was so hot and she could barely contain her own excitement, tempted to touch herself.

"Ooh, I always knew you were a little pervert." She turned to look at Red who was stood by the door, "he is hot isn't he."

"Hands off Red."

"Ooh you're finally claiming one of them."

"You've had all of them, haven't you?" she scoffed, "I think it's probably time you let someone else have a go."

"Maybe I could do with a little competition."

"This isn't a game Red," she tutted.

"Ooh, he's going to cum."

"What?" she turned back around and let out another moan as she looked at him.

"Do you know what, I'll let you have this one, apparently, you need some more than me." Red disappeared as Regina simply sat up on the bed as she watched him push his boxers further down, revealing his cock.

Her mouth dropped open as she observed him, her cheeks flushed and she shook her head, standing from the bed, she went to move, before she heard him release a loud groan, "god Regina!" Then he was coming in his hand, slowing down as his breathing evened out and he reached for some tissues from the bedside table, before tucking himself back in his pants. He let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes, pulling the covers over him, he turned to face her, snuggling into bed.

She decided to lay down, her head pressed into the pillow next to his as she looked at him, ghosts didn't sleep, but oh how she wished she could sleep here beside him. If she couldn't do that, the least she was going to do was pretend to, she closed her own eyes and moved as close as she could to him without actually touching him. After a while, his soft snores were filling the air, she grinned and stroked his shoulder, she wasn't going to let anyone hurt him, over her dead body and to do that, they would actually have to find her body. As long as he lived in this house, she was going to protect him from all the other nasty spirits that lived here.

* * *

Regina sat in the living room as she watched Robin unpack boxes, his son was trying to help him, but seemed to be only getting in the way. Robin was even tempered though and simply shook his head and told his son that it belonged in the kitchen not the living room. She was resisting the temptation to let herself be seen and come to offer a hand, she was coming around for dinner at seven later that night anyway, but she really wanted to spend the day with them. After Roland, had tried putting something that was meant for the bathroom in the kitchen, she decided that she was going to knock on the front door and offer a helping hand.

She was wearing some slacks and a t-shirt, a complete contrast to what she had been wearing the previous night; she knocked on the door and waited. Robin opened it with Roland close behind him, as soon as the little boy saw who was at the door he flung himself at her and she lifted him onto her hip, "well that was a nice greeting," she chuckled, bopping him on the nose gently.

"Hello!" He chuckled, "I told them to go away."

"You did? Well, I'm sure they listened to you."

"They did," he laughed, hugging her.

"Apparently, you found a way to quell my son's fears," Robin stated.

She looked up and smiled at him, before shrugging, "what can I say? I guess I have my ways," she looked at the little boy and scrunched her nose up playfully, causing him to let out a little giggle as she hugged him.

Robin had a massive grin on his face as he watched them, "good morning."

"Good morning," she replied, "so, do you need any help?"

"I don't know how we ever coped without you," he chuckled, walking inside and gesturing for her to follow, which she did, still carrying the Roland who was playing with her hair happily. "He seems to have taken a shining to you, he's usually so shy with strangers." Robin shook his head in astonishment.

"Well, I think we are already good friends aren't we mister?"

"Yes!" he nodded against her. She was so happy that Robin's son liked her, she just happened to have a soft spot for children, especially Roland apparently. "Regina come play with me," he giggled.

"You want to play? What toys do you have?"

"I have Legos! Lots of Legos, don't I daddy."

"Yes, he has a lot of Lego," Robin laughed, "Roland, I don't think Regina came around to play with your Lego." He cast her an apologetic look.

"No, I would love to play with you Roland, why don't you go and set it up in your room?"

"Really?"

"Why not?"

"Cool!" he rushed upstairs and she chuckled, turning back to Robin.

"You don't have to?"

"I'm guessing it's difficult keeping a four-year-old entertained whilst unpacking," she had seen how difficult it was.

"You have no idea," he sighed, "thank you."

"Daddy!"

Regina's eyes went wide as they heard Roland scream, panic set in as they both rushed upstairs, she knew she had more reason to panic, she knew what the house was capable of, "Roland?" Robin shouted as she rushed up behind him.

"Who are you?" They heard Roland ask, that was the moment she knew someone must be in there with him, someone had slipped their invisibility cloak and showed themselves.

When she reached the door, she exhaled a breath of relief, "Henry?"

"Regina, look at this cool stuff," he stated, picking up one of the little toys.

"Henry," she shook her head.

"What?"

"It isn't polite to walk into someone's house uninvited," she scolded, she was just happy that it was only Henry, he was harmless.

"I wanted to play with you," he argued, "it's not fair, you always play with me!"

"You are being very unreasonable," she huffed, looking towards Roland who had sat down on the floor and picked up one of the toys. "and you just stated the obvious, I always play with you, can you not share me for a little while?" He simply glared at her and she glared back in warning.

Robin shook his head, "how did you get in?"

"I'm sorry," Regina sighed, "he probably followed me, he tends to do that a lot."

"Can Henry not play with us?" Roland asked, looking up at her and then to his father.

"I suppose so," Robin shrugged, "although I think Henry needs to learn that he can't just walk into someone's house without them knowing."

Henry looked down and then up at Regina again, "I'm sure he's learnt his lesson," she stated, "didn't you mister?"

"I'm sorry Gina," he stated, moving over and hugging her.

"It's okay sweetheart."

"I'm sorry Mr Locksley, I just wanted to play with Gina," he whispered, his big eyes looking at Robin, she knew he wouldn't be able to resist that look, she never could, she was a sucker for Henry when he looked at her like that.

"It's fine," Robin chuckled, ruffling his hair, "I'm going to finish unpacking, are you sure you're okay keeping him entertained?" he asked, gesturing towards Roland.

"Of course," she grinned, "I love playing with Lego," she squeezed Robin's arm gently, before sitting down on the floor with the boys. She was aware that Robin was watching them from the doorway and turned around, "excuse me, but I think you have work to do and you are intruding on our game."

"Oh am I now?"

"Yes you are," she smirked.

"Well I know when I'm not wanted."

"Oh I didn't say that you weren't wanted, I just said that you had other things to do," she laughed, casting him a sexy wink.

"I do actually, so I will see you three in a bit," he winked back, before leaving them to it in Roland's room.

"Henry," she rose her eyebrows, having a little spirit conversation with him, making sure that Roland couldn't hear.

"What? I wanted to play."

"I know you did, but think next time before you just appear in here, they don't know about us."

"Wait, Mr Locksley doesn't know you're a ghost?"

"No, of course he doesn't know I'm a ghost and I want it to remain that way please."

"Fine," he rolled his eyes, "can we still play Lego?"

"Yes," she sighed looking to Roland as she spoke out loud, "so then Roland, what game do you want to play?"

"Robin Hood! Look, I have the set and I have a castle!"

"Well then, let's play Robin Hood."

After a while of playing, Regina decided to leave the boys to it, putting Henry in change of Roland, knowing that he would take care of him for her, make sure that nothing happened to him. She snuck downstairs and lent against the door frame watching Robin as he placed the last ornament on the mantle.

She tilted her head, admiring how his jeans hugged to his figure, showing off his arse, she bit her lower lip and smiled; at that moment, he turned around and grinned at her, "how long have you been standing there?" he asked, walking towards her.

"Long enough."

"See something you like?" He chuckled, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Oh most definitely, I was just admiring the view," she cast him a seductive smile, before looking past him, "that's a beautiful vase you have." She sniggered, looking at a simple shaped blue vase which had green trees painted on it.

"Actually, I made that."

"You did? Really?" She wandered over to it to get a better look, it was amazing, she noticed a little painted deer poking out from within the trees, "wow, Robin, this is really nice, it's so pretty."

"Thank you, it's what I do."

"You're an artist?"

"Ceramicist," he nodded, "but I do paintings too, in fact, there's one," he gestured to the wall at a painting of Roland with an older man and women.

"Wow, you are so good," she breathed, moving closer to look at it, thinking about the ghastly mural that was underneath, painted by his real neighbour, in fact she was surprised he hadn't had a visit from her. "Who are those people he's with?" she asked.

"My parents," he sighed, "they died four months ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she stated, turning to place a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"You're not going to ask how?"

"It's not really any of my business," she shrugged, her breath hitching at the way he was looking at her; without even thinking she began to lean in, she wanted to feel his lips against hers again, however, just as she was about to kiss him, there was a loud rumble from the basement, it sounded like a rolling bowling ball on a concrete floor.

"What is it with the weird noises in this house?" he huffed, "I'll go check it out, you wait here."

"No! I'm coming with you," she stated as he took off towards the basement, she followed close behind, ready to knock over any pain in the ass spirits that might be playing their stupid games, they tended to target the basement the most, mainly because it was harder to escape from.

The door was open and Robin furrowed his eyebrows, "how did that happen?"

"Wind," she suggested.

"There's no breeze," he shook his head, pushing it further open and shuddering slightly, "I think somethings down there."

"Robin, don't go down there," she warned.

"Why, if someone has broken in, I need to check," he slowly began to descend the stairs and she rolled her eyes, hadn't he ever seen horror films before? Never go down into the dark damp basement, unless you wanted to be killed in some horrid way; you especially if you were unarmed, at least she thought he was unarmed.

She was close behind him, looking around, trying to determine which resident it was that was screwing with him now. "I don't think there's anyone down here," she stated, grabbing his arm, "come on, let's go back."

"You go back upstairs and check on the boys," he whispered, she could hear the hint of fear present in his voice and sighed.

"Not a chance, the boys are fine," they reached the bottom step and there was a loud bang from the upstairs door that had slammed shut behind them.

"Oh my god," Robin gasped, he had nearly jumped out of his skin and was pressing a hand to his chest.

"You'll die in here, you'll die in here." A child's ghostly voice moaned.

"What the fuck was that?" He asked.

Regina groaned and shook her head, she knew what it was, but she could hardly tell Robin, that voice had creeped her out when she was alive, it wasn't fun being told that you'd die in a house that you just moved into, unfortunately for her, it was true, she had died in here. "I don't know," she whispered.

"You'll die in here, you will."

"Regina, go upstairs now and call the cops."

"Robin, wait," she ran her hands along the wall trying to find the light switch, turning her back on Robin.

"Pretty girl, you are a pretty girl." Another sinister voice announced, "a very pretty girl."

She felt a freezing hand on her back and let out a little squeal, she knew that one was Jefferson and she also knew that he wouldn't hurt her, couldn't really hurt her even if he wanted to. "Get off!" she turned around and swatted him, "go away!"

"Regina, go upstairs!" Robin shouted, just as she found the switch, he flicked on his torch and they saw a shadowed figure in the corner of the room, "what the hell?"

She turned the light on and the shadow disappeared, in the middle of the room was an old rag doll, "you'll die in here, you will, you will."

Robin released a breath of relief, "well, that's creepy as fuck." She shook her head and walked to pick up the doll but he pulled her back, "don't touch it."

"It's not Chucky Robin, what do you think it's going to do, come to life and kill me?" She sniggered, picking it up and pulling the cord on its back, resulting in it repeating the sentence.

"That is some sicko toy."

"Yep, I think we should get rid of this, before Roland sees it and can't sleep." She stated, holding it upside down by its foot.

"Where the hell did it come from?"

"I have no idea, it might have belonged to one of the previous owners, god knows how much stuff is in here, I mean the amount of people that lived in here…"

"There's been a lot?"

"Yes, a lot," she nodded, "but I have to say, you and Roland are my favourites so far."

"Hey, so far?"

"Hmm, let's get rid of it, come on," she shoved the doll into his arms and rubbed his back gently as she directed him up the stairs. Just before they could leave there was a scraping noise and she groaned inwardly, now what?

"You heard that, right?" He whispered.

"I heard it," she sighed, as he turned back around and headed back down again. "Come on Robin, seriously? It's probably the dolls boyfriend or something," she literally growled as she did a little paddy and followed him back down into the dark and dingy cellar. Even she hated this god damn part of the house, it was just a really gross place. Her breathing was heavy as she tried to adjust her eyes to the dark, she was nervous and she didn't like it, she looked around and clung to Robin's arm as they walked deeper into the dark space.

Suddenly he let out a loud scream and grabbed her, causing her to scream and panic too, mainly because he just scared the absolute shit out of her, she didn't even know ghosts could be scared. She slapped his arm as he started laughing, "what the hell Robin!"

"Sorry, couldn't help myself."

"That's so twisted," she scoffed, pushing him. He laughed and picked something up of the floor before throwing it at her, she freaked out and squealed, before realising that it was just the creepy doll, "stop it!"

"Okay, done now, sorry, let's get out of this place, I swear I am going to have to do something with that area it smells like…"

"Death," she shuddered, grabbing his hand and literally dragging him up the stairs, only to find that the door was locked, she pulled on the handle and closed her eyes, really? She was going to re-kill whoever had done that, "it's stuck."

"What?" he moved past her and tried the door handle.

"Seriously? Think I haven't tried…" the door opened and she furrowed her eyebrows, "what? How?"

"You were saying milady?"

"That was locked, it was…"

"I may know how to pick a lock," he shrugged, "my worry is how it locked."

"It's an old house."

"Yes, I'm sure that was it."

After spending the whole day together and having a wonderful evening, Regina was stood at the front door, ready to say her goodbyes, not that she was actually leaving, but he thought that she was. They had put Roland to bed together and he had demanded that she read him a story, which she had complied with, reading him one about an Evil Queen and a Wicked King, she certainly hadn't heard that story before, but it was interesting.

The meal Robin had made was delicious, she had helped where she could and it had all felt very domestic, she loved it, she loved feeling as though she served some sort of purpose. She was sure she hadn't even felt that when she was alive which was depressing, she was just glad she had the chance to experience it now.

"Thank you for an amazing evening."

"No thank you, you have been a massive help today," he grinned, standing opposite her as they hovered awkwardly.

"No problem," she nodded, reaching out and rubbing his arm gently, "you got rid of the doll right?"

"Yeah, I put it on your porch."

"What?" her face fell as she stared at him, thinking about how the neighbour would react to creepy dolly being left on the doorstep.

"I'm joking," he laughed, "it's really in your bin."

"Shut up," she rolled her eyes, "I didn't even tell you which house I lived in."

"Oh yeah, good point."

"You are so…"

"What tall and devilishly handsome?"

"Really? Confident much?"

"It was a joke, I'm not exactly that tall, or handsome."

"Oh now you're just fishing for compliments," she smiled, playing with the collar of his shirt.

"I'm not," he grinned, his hand coming to rest on top of hers.

"I should go," she whispered, squeezing his hand gently, before removing hers from his grasp, "are you going to be alright here alone? Not scared that the bride of Chucky might come and get you?" she teased, surprisingly that had been the last horror film she had seen before she died.

"Nope, not so much, you?"

"I think I'll live," she chuckled, bringing her hand to his cheek and stroking his stubble, "now I really do need to say goodnight."

"Goodnight Regina," he reached past her and opened the door. When he pulled back, she thought he was going to kiss her, but he simply settled for her cheek.

"Good night Robin," she breathed, kissing his cheek back, before offering him a small smile and walking out of the door, closing it behind her so that he could watch her walk away.

She had fallen for him already, she knew she had, when he looked at her with those blue eyes, her stomach fluttered and she felt light headed. When he flashed her his amazing dimples, she wanted to trace them gently with her fingertips, feeling the prickle of his well-kept facial hair. Then there was that smug little smirk that she already loved so much, she thought she was literally going to have to kiss him silly.

She knew she had a stupid smile on her face as she walked in the backdoor, bumping straight into Jefferson, "you are a jerk!" She snapped, moving into the lounge and flopping down on the sofa.

"Couldn't resist."

"Seriously? Were you trying to scare him to death?"

"Apparently, you were more scared," he laughed, dropping down next to her, "aww, did I scare the little ghost?"

"Shut up!" she shoved him, "I am the only one who talks to you in this place, so be quiet or…"

"Or what?"

"I'll ignore you," she quipped.

"You'll ignore me?"

"And I will tell you to go away."

"No you wouldn't," he scoffed, "Regina, don't tell me to go away," he looked at her and pouted.

"Stop trying to murder Robin."

"I was only doing it for you."

"I don't want you to do it for me!" she yelled, did he not get what she was saying to him? She didn't want it, she didn't want them to die.

"God such a kill joy, or not, considering you won't let me kill."

"Go away Jefferson."

"Regina…"

"I said go away Jefferson!" he disappeared and she knew he was going to be annoyed when he next saw her. She leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes, before standing up and wandering upstairs, into Roland's room. She sat down in the rocking chair beside his bed and just watched over him for a little while, before going to Robin's and continuing to alternate.

* * *

Two weeks passed and she had spent nearly every moment of her time with Robin and Roland, in the days she was visible and played her part as the friendly neighbour and at night, that was when she was on guard duty making sure that no one hurt them whilst they were asleep. Jefferson had told her again that he could kill them for her and she could keep them forever, it was becoming more and more tempting, but she couldn't do that to them, she couldn't subject them to what she was going through, couldn't force them to stay in this house for eternity, they deserved better than that.

She and Robin hadn't spoken about his first night there, the night they kissed and he saw the bruises on her neck, she thought it best to leave it alone; how would he understand though that the marks would never go away, that in two months, a year, they'd still be there, a permanent imprint on her body. He'd probably think that someone was still hurting her and demand to know who it was and how he could help her, little did he know that there was no way to help her, she was dead and buried.

Tonight, they had the house to themselves, well, not really, but Roland was having a sleepover at his new friend's house, so she had Robin to herself. They were sat on the sofa, drinking wine as they talked about things; she knew everything about Robin, that his wife died in childbirth and he had to raise Roland alone. Then after four years his parents also passed away and there was nothing much left for him in England, nothing but sad memories and reminders of the past. So he decided that he wanted a new start for him and his son and moved to the states.

She had told him about herself, well who she used to be, that like him, both her parents were deceased and she had moved here a little while ago with her boyfriend who was a violent alcoholic, not that she knew at the time. She'd suffered through it for long enough, telling herself that it wasn't his fault, that it was the alcohol, until the night he tried to strangle her and she left. He didn't know when she said left that she actually meant she'd left her body in favour of being a spirit, that he had succeeded at killing her before she could get out, he just thought she was a survivor.

She looked at him as she sipped the wine out of an actual wine glass this time, he grinned and shook his head, "why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, smiling as she ran her finger around the rim of her glass.

He cleared his throat and smirked, "no reason, I just happen to think you look very fetching tonight."

"Oh, fetching," she chuckled, her smile widening as she looked down and back up at him again.

"You really are stunning."

She shuffled closer on the couch so she could lean against him, his arm surrounded her as she rested on his chest, bringing her feet up behind her on the couch. "You're not so bad yourself," she quipped as he threaded his fingers with hers.

"God Gina, you're always freezing."

"Sorry," she chuckled, stroking her thumb over his hand, "I think that I might just be a cool person." She smiled, thinking that she loved the way he called her Gina.

"Well, I think I have enough warmth to share with you," he ran his fingers through her hair, before moving them further down to trace over her bruises, "does this hurt?"

"No," she shook her head, "they've been there long enough for them to not hurt anymore," she whispered, seeing the sadness in his eyes. "Hey, stop being soppy on me," she chuckled, finding his hand and bringing it to her lips, pressing a kiss against his palm, "how about, we don't talk about these," she sighed, touching the marks; her hand slipped down her body, lingering around her cleavage, before sliding up his leg, "in fact, I think there are much better things we could be doing."

"Like murder!"

She jumped and nearly spilt her wine, looking up to see Jefferson stood with a kitchen knife behind Robin; her eyes went wide and she just stared at him, her mouth agape.

"Regina?" Robin questioned, looking behind him, trying to see what it was that she was looking at, obviously not being able to see Jefferson, "are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine, I thought I heard something."

"I didn't hear anything," he shook his head.

"It's probably just me," she chuckled, leaning against him as he played with her hair that fell to her collarbone, "I suppose the old house probably has a few ghosts right."

"You can say that again," Jefferson scoffed moving to sit in a chair opposite them, "come on, let me kill him, it's not really murder, he'll become immortal." Regina was ignoring him best she could, trying to focus on Robin and not give away that there was a psychopathic ghost in the room with them.

"I don't believe in ghosts," Robin stated and she fought the urge to just laugh out loud, it was ironic really, him telling a ghost that he didn't believe.

"Everyone has to a little bit though right? Surely there's a part of you that thinks, maybe there is a plain where ghosts walk among us."

"So, you're a paranormal geek?" he laughed, dropping his hand to run over her upper arm. The way he was looking at her gave her butterflies in her stomach, the only way she could describe it was a look of complete and utter adoration.

"No, but I do believe."

"Okay," he nodded, "let's call for one," he bent forward, placing his glass on the dark wood coffee table.

"Ooh do it Regina, I'll help you," Jefferson clapped standing up, "I've always wanted to be summoned, I can push some things, smash them."

"I don't think that's such a good idea," she warned, it wasn't, she knew it wasn't, he wasn't ready to see them yet, especially not Jefferson, he wasn't ready, she needed more time, needed to be able to spend more time with him first, she was probably selfish, but if he called for someone and they appeared, he would freak out and leave, she couldn't let him leave yet.

"Scared?"

"No," she rolled her eyes, "I just think it's probably best to leave them to their own devices, I mean if you were a ghost, would you want someone interrupting your day by summoning you?"

"I so would, come on Regina, summon me! Summon me!" Jefferson moved closer to her and she reached out, pretending to stretch as she smacked him hard in the balls, "god! Seriously girl?! I get the message okay, sheesh." With that he disappeared and she sighed in relief thank god for that.

"Good point," Robin smirked, looking over at the clock on the mantel piece, "it's getting late."

"Oh, yes so it is," she nodded, not making to move from the sofa, from his side, "do you want me to leave?" she asked, really hoping that he would say no and ask her to stay, she wanted to stay with him and have him know she was there, instead of just staying there without him knowing, staying there to protect him from the others. When he didn't say anything, she moved slightly so she could look at him better, "or, do you want me to stay?" her hand came to play with the hair on the back of his neck, causing him to shudder.

"What do you think?" he chuckled.

"Okay, fine I'll go then," she moved to stand up and he pulled her into his arms so that she was straddling his lap as she laughed, "oh you want me to stay?" she knew perfectly well that he did.

"I think you know the answer to that Miss Mills," he grinned, his hands stroking her lower back as she looked at him.

"I think I want to hear it Mr Locksley, just to be certain that what I'm thinking is the truth," she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and shuffled on his lap, moving against his half hard member.

"God, I want you," he whispered, slipping his hands under her shirt, "I want you so badly."

"Then take me."

"Are you sure about this? I don't just want a quick fling, I want you to be my girlfriend," he brought one hand up to her face as he traced her lips lightly.

"Okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she nodded moving her face closer to his and merging their lips, causing those same sparks that drove her wild. His lips were soft, warm and inviting against hers, they made her want to feel more, she slid her hands up his chest and arrived at his shoulders, before cupping his face, "I think we should take this some place more comfortable, don't you?" she breathed as she tore her lips from his and he kissed along her jaw.

"Definitely," he agreed, taking her by surprise and standing up, lifting her in his arms; she wrapped her legs around his waist as she held onto him.

"Robin," she squealed, clinging to him, her lips attaching to the base of his neck as he carried her, "watch where you're going," she giggled, "you wouldn't want to drop me."

"No, I don't think I would."

She laid her head on his shoulders as she just held onto him, pressing the odd kiss against his collarbone, just allowing him to concentrate on walking upstairs. She heard his bedroom door squeak open as he entered and laid her down on the bed, she smiled up at him, reaching out to caress his face, before hearing a creak on the landing, "would you close the door?" she whispered.

"Yeah, sure," he nodded, moving and shutting the door, before re-joining her, "scared the ghosts will get in?" he joked.

"Oh, I'm sure if they wanted to get in, they'd just open the door," she sniggered.

"Or go through it?"

"Probably not," she shook her head. He lay down beside her and took a deep breath, "are you okay?" she asked, turning to look at him.

"Yes, it's just I haven't had this in a long time, had someone that I like enough to share this with."

"How long?" she whispered, finding his hand again.

"Four years," he admitted.

"Not since your wife?"

"No," he sighed, "I guess that I just feel as though we have this connection, Roland already loves you and I think you are the most extraordinary woman I have ever met."

"I think that the feeling is very much mutual. I'm going to admit, that I haven't ever had anyone that I had a connection with, not really," she sniffled, "I thought I did and then…"

"It's okay," he stated, pressing a kiss to her nose, pulling her into his arms as they just hugged for a moment, she tilted her head to smile up at him as he dropped his head and kissed her, that was it, that spark was what caused it all. Suddenly she was desperate to feel his touch across her whole body, she wanted him to touch her all over, just like she wanted to touch him. She found the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head, before tossing it to the floor. He did the same with hers and she pressed her naked chest against his. "No bra Miss Mills?"

"I didn't find it necessary Mr Locksley," she smirked, wrapping a leg around him so that she could rub her jean clad core against his thigh, "Robin touch me," she murmured against his lips as her tongue found his. His hands came to her breasts and he played with her nipples, causing her breathing to quicken. Her hand found the button on her jeans and she undid them, before grabbing his hand and pulling it down, "touch me here."

He ran a finger through her folds and she let out a loud moan as she arched into his touch, "god Gina, I think we found a place you aren't cold."

She laughed and shook her head, "I think you warmed me up, as promised," she chuckled, knowing how wet she was, she could feel it. In this house, ghosts were simply normal people, they could do everything that a human could do, except from feel pain and die, she'd never been happier to not have passed on to wherever it was that normal people passed on to.

"I think so," he agreed, stroking her gently as his other hand went to her hair, "I also think I might have made you wet."

"Yes," she breathed as he circled her clit. His other hand ran down her body, finding the top of her jeans, he pulled them down her legs, along with her panties, working to revealing her sex to him. "You did." Regina found the button on his pants and quickly undid it, pushing them down and grasping his cock. Smirking as she remembered something, "I touched myself thinking about you," she whispered, causing him to groan and thrust against her hand.

"So did I," he nodded.

"You touched yourself thinking about yourself?" she giggled.

"You know what I meant," he laughed, rolling her slightly so that she was laid on her back.

"Was I good? In your fantasy?" she asked, as his breath washed against her wet lips, causing her to shudder.

"I have to say, the reality is surpassing the fantasy."

"So I wasn't."

He chuckled and kissed her lips, "you know you were."

"Oh, good," she ran her thumb over his tip and began to move her hand around him, "I dreamt that you were inside me," she whispered, "that you were making love to me and I was screaming your name in pleasure."

"Well I think I can make that dream come true."

"So do I," she smirked, her other hand coming to the back of his neck as she led his lips down to hers once again, "please Robin," she breathed, flicking her tongue against his. "I need you," she drawled in her sexiest voice.

"God," he groaned, pushing her legs apart, giving him better access as he worked her clit, his other hand drawing little patterns on her inner thigh, swirling up and down, before he took her by surprise and pushed two fingers inside her, bending them against her g-spot.

Oh god, she had missed this so much, missed being touched by another person, she hadn't realised it until now, but god it felt good. Her eyes closed as she arched her back, bucking against his fingers. God, she hoped no one was watching them, that could be contributing to her having her eyes shut, not wanting to see.

"Robin, please," she took a sharp intake of breath as he picked up the speed, "Robin, I want you, I want you!" she cried, her hand coming to find his arm, she opened her eyes to look into his blues which were darkened with desire, "I want you."

"I was just making sure you were wet enough."

"You knew I was," she chuckled.

"True," he agreed, moving up her body, to kiss along the bruises that lay on her neck, before skimming across her jaw and finding her lips. He pressed his forehead to hers and stared into her eyes, "are you ready?"

"Hmm," she nodded, bumping her nose with his and letting out a little giggle. "I definitely am ready, so, are you going to make love to me?"

"Yes," he whispered, his lips grazing across hers, as he reached down in between them, playing with her clit again, before grasping his hard member and moving it to her entrance. Carefully he slipped inside her and she felt herself stretch to accommodate his length, she let out a low moan as he filled her completely and stopped moving, just to simply caress her face gently, she knew he was also trying to regain his composure, after all, she wasn't the only one who had been out of action. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she stared into his eyes and laughed again.

"You feel so good inside me," she purred, running her fingers up and down his back, scratching him lightly with her nails.

"God Gina," he breathed, kissing her as he pulled out half way and pushed back into her, causing her to smile against his lips. He began to make love to her, going slow as he trailed his hand across her body, touching every area he could reach, swirling his fingertips over her skin, circling her nipples as he caressed her. This pace was torture, it felt amazing, she knew she was loved, treasure, but she needed him to go faster and harder.

"Robin," she moved her hand to cup his cheek, "I'm not going to break," she stated.

He rose his eyebrows at her and shook his head, "I didn't know how you liked it."

"Hard and fast," she shrugged.

"Well then, hard and fast you shall get," he laughed, picking up the pace immediately as she shuddered below him, the feeling of him moving in and out of her was amazing, with every thrust he seemed to brush against her g-spot.

"Oh yes!" she nodded, bringing her legs up either side of him and hearing noises of wet skin slapping together, "Robin, yes! Please, yes, yes," she whimpered, her back arching into him as he thrust into her, she was bucking her hips in time with him, meeting his strokes. Then he took her by surprise, he grasped her ankles and placed them over his shoulders so he could push into her deeper, sending her wild, also working to pin her against the bed. He moved so that he was kneeling, giving him more control, her eyes rolled back in her head as he kissed the inside of her knee that was in line with his mouth.

Now, he wasn't having to hold himself up and could touch her more, he held onto her hips, holding her steady as he thoroughly fucked her. One of her hands was in his hair and the other was massaging her breasts. On one particular hard thrust she literally screamed from the pleasure that coursed through her veins and there were constant whimpers at every movement. Then her walls were contracting around his cock, he brought his hand to her clit and rubbed.

Regina was gone, coming hard around him, she couldn't stop the noises that escaped her as her pelvic muscles tightened, "oh, ooh, oh, Robin, ooh." She felt warmth flood through her as he groaned her name and slowed down his frantic pounding. She could hear his heavy breathing as he reached for her legs and placed them back down on the mattress, they were like jelly, it didn't even feel like they belonged to her. He was still inside her as she stared into his eyes, "wow."

"As good as you dreamt?"

"God, so much better," she breathed, that was the best sex she had ever had, it was unlike anything she had ever experienced. She felt him soften and slip out of her, she moaned at the feeling and he moved to lay beside her, pulling her into his arms as he kissed her forehead. "Thank you, Robin."

He grinned and reached for the covers, pulling them up over them as she snuggled into his embrace, kissing his chest, "you're staying over, right?"

"Yes," she whispered, her eyes closing, for some reason she felt tired, even though she couldn't sleep.

"Good," he nodded, holding her tight.

She smiled and nuzzled her head against him, she was just going to enjoy laying in his arms, even if she wasn't able to sleep like he was, she sure could just bask in the feeling of being held by someone.

* * *

Robin stirred and she closed her eyes, burying her head in the pillow pretending that she was asleep and that she hadn't been up the entire night looking at his face and body, mapping out every birthmark, scar and freckle. He had a deep scar running down his right arm and seven smaller ones dotted about his chest, there were ten that she counted on his legs and more in other places. He had a birthmark on his side and she had been rather surprised to find a tattoo of a lion on his right arm.

As for now, she wanted to see what he would do if he thought she was asleep; it wasn't long before she found out, feeling his lips pressing up her back and over her shoulder blade. He scooped her hair to one side and kissed her neck, before nipping her earlobe gently, she smiled and turned to look at him, pretending to be sleepy, "good morning," he chuckled.

"Good morning."

"Would you care for some breakfast?"

"I would love some," she nodded, reaching out to pull his lips to hers as she kissed him sweetly, before stretching and snuggling to him.

"I better go make some then, I have to go collect Roland in about an hour. Would you like to come?" he asked, bringing her fingers to his lips and kissing them.

She wished she could, but she couldn't, she couldn't leave, not until Halloween, Halloween was the one night of the year she could actually leave the house and go wherever she might choose, "I would love to but…"

"You have other things to do?"

"No, it's not that," she shook her head.

"You want to stay in bed?"

She chuckled and shrugged, "you got me," she ran her hands over his shoulders.

"You don't have to come, I just thought that you might want to."

"Robin, you know I love Roland."

"He's going to ask you to come to his school play, he's really excited about it."

"He is?" she felt her heart break just a little bit at the idea of having to let him down, she couldn't go, it was so unfair.

"What does that look mean?" Robin asked, stroking her stomach gently.

"It means I can't."

"Why not?" he questioned, frowning at her, "don't say you're busy, because I didn't even tell you what day it was."

"I'm sorry Robin," she whispered, tears coming to her eyes as her nose began to tingle.

"Regina? Are you okay?"

"I can't go," she repeated, shaking her head as she played with the bed sheets.

He stared at her intently as she swiped at the tears that were trickling down her cheeks, "wait, is this about it being at the school?"

"What? No."

"Will he be there?" Robin asked, gritting his teeth together.

"Who?"

"You know who Regina, the person who did this to you," he gestured at her neck.

"No."

"Are you scared to go out?"

"I just can't Robin, I'm sorry," she sighed, moving out of the bed and reaching for her clothes which were piled on the floor.

"No, don't go, Gina, I didn't mean to push you." She sniffled and turned around to look at him, "babe, you can stay here if you want, I'm sure Roland will want to see you when he gets back."

"Okay," she nodded, finding his shirt and pulling it over her head; he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her between his legs.

"I'm sorry baby, will you forgive me?"

"I suppose so," she smirked, scrunching her nose at him.

"Do you know you're adorable when you do that?"

"When I do what?" she asked.

"Crumple your nose like that."

"What like this?" she did it again and beamed at him, showing her teeth in a dazzling smile as she laughed.

"My god woman, you are so sexy."

"I do try," she quipped, flicking her hair as she smirked at him.

"If I had time, I would be laying you down on this bed and having you for breakfast."

"Oh, haven't you got time?" she asked, pouting at him playfully as she ran her hands down his body.

"You are a kinky bitch aren't you," she pulled away from Robin and turned around to see Jefferson sat in a chair in the corner of the room, "asking him to eat you out before breakfast," he tutted.

She closed her eyes and shook her head, why couldn't he just leave her alone? He was annoying, really, really annoying. Robin's hands came to her hips as he slid his shirt up her body. She quickly grabbed his hands and shook her head, "you said you didn't have time."

"Well, I'll make time."

"Robin, I'm hungry," at his look, she rolled her eyes, "for actual food." She wasn't really, she just didn't want Jefferson watching them do anything together that involved getting naked.

"Okay then, let's go get actual food, there's a great diner that I discovered down the street."

"I thought you were making me breakfast," she shrugged.

"Oh dear, looks like you've hit a problem girly," Jefferson sighed, "you can't leave the house and lover boy is going to want to take you places. You're going to have to tell him."

"I was going to, but, Granny's food is better, trust me."

"I was looking forward to sampling some of your pancakes, Roland told me they were great," she tried, Jefferson was right, that was the third time this morning, she'd had to refuse the offer of going out to do something.

"Regina, I get the feeling that you don't want to leave the house."

"I don't," she smiled, "now we're getting somewhere." She nodded, finding his hand and threading their fingers together.

"But why not? Is it because of this guy? Are you afraid…"

"He's not coming back, I told you that!" she spat, moving out of his arms, "I don't want to talk about him Robin."

"Okay, we don't have to talk about him, but I think it would be good for you to get out of the house."

"No, it wouldn't, it wouldn't be good for me."

"Okay, fine," he held his hands up in defeat, "I can stop by your place and pick up some stuff for you if you want."

"I think I'm fine thanks."

"Which house do you live in?" he asked.

"What is this twenty questions?"

"Regina, I've never even seen your place, never even seen you out of my house."

"I'm sorry Robin."

He sighed and stood up, "right, I'm going to go and make pancakes, want some?"

"Yes," she whispered, looking down to the ground as he kissed her head and left the room.

"Oh dear," Jefferson muttered, "something tells met that this relationship you got going isn't going to work, he's going to want you to leave with him and you are going to have to keep on saying no. You must be crazy to think that you could have a normal relationship. Well, I hate to break it to you honey, but you ain't normal, you're dead."

"Jefferson leave me alone."

"Don't tell me to go away again, or I might just have to start hurting him and you wouldn't want that would you?"

"Jefferson! Leave me alone!" she yelled, forgetting that she was speaking out loud, "leave me alone! What don't you understand?! Why can't you get it into your head that I don't want you around me!"

"Oops, good luck explaining that one," he laughed, before disappearing.

"Regina?!" The door burst open and Robin looked at her in concern, "what the hell is going on?"

"Nothing," she whispered.

"God you better tell me now, are you in danger? I swear to god Regina, tell me now."

"No, not me," she whispered, "you."

"What?"

"I'm sorry."

"Would you stop saying that and tell me what is going on please!"

"It's this house," she breathed, "no one is safe in here."

"Why?"

"Let me just tell you that the woman who sold you this house, didn't inform you about everything that went on here," she looked up at the clock and saw the time, she pulled on his arm and brought him to the window so that they could see the street. Suddenly a tourist car came into view with a man holding a megaphone and a group of people were looking at the house.

"What the?"

Regina opened the window so they could hear what he was saying, _"our tour concludes with one of the most famous houses of horrors in the City of Angels, better known as, the 'Murder House'…"_

"Seriously?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"You can't believe this crap," Robin huffed shaking his head, closing the window as he wandered down to the kitchen, grabbing stuff out of the fridge.

"Robin," she sighed.

"Really? I mean come on Regina, it's crazy."

"It's the truth," she shrugged. She was going to have to do something that she didn't want to, in order to make him believe her, "fine, I'll come with you to pick Roland up."

"No, you don't have to."

"I want to," she smiled.

He furrowed his eyebrows at her and combined all the ingredients he would need to make pancakes, just as he was pouring one into the pan, there was a knock on the backdoor, he groaned and moved to open it, "hello, can I help you?"

"Hello handsome," Regina closed her eyes, she promised she'd back off, so much for that, he would see her as a hot maid with a small skirt, that was how all the men saw her. Regina slumped on to a bar stool, playing with the sleeves on Robin's shirt that she was wearing.

"Urm, okay, did you want something madam?"

"Yes, I am the maid for this house, I'd been away for a couple of weeks, but I'm back now."

Robin turned to look at Regina and shrugged, "I don't know if I need a maid, but you can come in and I'll make you a cup of tea."

Red came inside and sat down beside Regina, "what are you doing?" Regina spat under her breath.

"Oh sweets, don't worry, something tells me that he only has eyes for you."

"How do you know that?" she asked.

"Well, in his eyes, I'm the old woman, that hasn't ever happened on a first try before."

Regina grinned and shook her head, "that's…"

"That means he is in love with you."

"What?"

"Yes."

Regina watched as Robin filled the kettle and closed her eyes, he was in love with her? That changed everything, she knew he felt something for her, but actual love, she couldn't tell him who she was yet, she just couldn't, they were too new, too fresh, she needed to leave it a little longer. He flipped a pancake and popped it on a plate, sliding it over to her, "there you go babe, maple syrup?"

"Yes please, thank you," she smiled, taking the bottle from him and squeezing some onto the pancake.

"Well, if you don't need a maid, then I guess I should be finding some other means of employment," Red stated, standing from her chair as she straightened her dress, "goodbye Mr Locksley, if you're sensible, you won't let that one go," she gestured towards Regina, casting her a wink, before leaving out the door again.

"How strange," Robin chuckled, "I hope nothing else weird happens this morning," he laughed, picking up his own pancake and taking a bite out of it as he poured another in.

"Hmm," she drank some of the orange juice that he poured for her and sighed. She couldn't reveal herself, not now, instead, she came up with the perfect cover, "Robin, I don't feel too well."

"What?"

"That's why I didn't want to come with you to pick Roland up, or go to Granny's I'm sorry, I should have told you."

"Regina," he sighed, pressing a kiss to her temple, "if you don't feel well, you can stay here okay? Is that why you didn't want to go home too?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"Now," he scooped her up bridal style, as her arms wrapped around his neck, it was different to the way he had carried her the previous night, this time it was as though he were cradling her, keeping her safe, "you can stay in my bed and watch films all day. I promise when I get back with Roland, we will join you and wait on you hand and foot. How does that sound?"

"That sounds lovely," she chuckled as he placed her down on the bed and moved the covers over her, before sitting down next to her.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay here all alone in the 'Murder House'" he asked, putting on a creepy voice.

"Yes, I'm sure I'll be fine."

He moved her hair behind her ear and kissed her gently, "do you need anything?"

She could think of many things she needed right now, but that wasn't going to happen, he needed to be picking Roland up, "no I'm alright," she whispered, pressing her lips against his, "I think you should be heading out."

"Me too actually, I'll be back soon," he stated, quickly kissing her lips, before placing one on her forehead and grabbing his car keys from the side. "Do you need me to pick up anything?"

She was about to say no, when she realised that he could bring her absolutely anything from the store, she'd always had to make do with what the owners had, "I would actually love a tall glass of lemonade."

"Lemonade coming right up your majesty," he did a little bow before casting her one last look, "you do know that you look like you belong in my bed right?"

"Maybe I do."

"I think so. Bye beautiful."

"Bye," she smiled as she watched him leave. She sighed and closed her eyes, what was she going to do? There was a small knock on the door and she sat up expecting it to be Robin, "what did you forget… Emma, hi."

"Hey," she grinned, moving to sit at the bottom of the bed.

"You okay?"

"Yes, what are you doing with this guy?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're dead, it's hardly a match made in heaven, once he finds out, he going to freak and leave this place, you do know that, right?"

Regina sighed and shook her head, deep down a part of her knew that, she just didn't want to admit it to herself, not yet. "I love him Emma."

"What?"

"I'm in love with him and I think he loves me." She admitted, nervous about what she had just admitted to, she knew she was in love with him, there was no other explanation for what she was feeling, the emotion he evoked within her could only be put down to one thing, love. The way they had come together the night before just made her fall for him even more, it worked to confirm that what she was feeling was true.

"Does he think you're alive?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"Oh dear."

"I know okay, I know this is a right royal mess, but I can't just turn off me feelings just like that. I want him, I want to be happy, don't I deserve to be happy? I wasn't happy when I was alive, I'm happier now than I have ever been."

"Regina," she sighed, "trust me, I'm trying to look out for you, but I still can't help but feel that this is a bad idea."

Regina buried her head in her hands, "I've never felt more alive than when I'm with them, it's as if they bring me to life again."

"We both know that can't happen."

Regina took a deep shuddery breath and shook her head, "I know that. I think I need some time alone."

"Okay," Emma squeezed her hand, "I'm here, if you ever want to talk."

She didn't answer, just turned around and laid her face down on the pillow, allowing it to catch her tears, it wasn't fair, it just wasn't.

* * *

Another two weeks passed and things were going well between herself and Robin, but he was getting more and more suspicious, she never wanted to do anything outside, for obvious reasons, but he just didn't get it and she knew that. He asked her why they had never been to her house and things like that, questions that she couldn't answer, because in a relationship, surely the other person should know where you lived right? It was just she lived in the same house as him, she was pretty much living there in full sight now anyway, sleeping in his bed with him, alternating cooking and reading Roland bedtime stories together, it was perfect, her perfect little family, except, it wasn't, not really.

She was sat in the lounge reading a book, when Robin came up behind her and began to massage her shoulders, dropping his lips to her neck, "that's feels nice," she hummed, her hand coming up to find his.

"Babe?"

"Hmm?" she tilted her head, giving him better access to her neck.

"How would you like to go on a date tomorrow night?"

She straightened up and sighed, "Robin."

"Come on Regina, I just want to go out to dinner with you, why can't you give me that? Let me treat you, I want to spoil you, you can have anything on the menu, please," he sat down on the couch beside her and pushed her hair behind her ear, "Gina, come on."

"I can't."

"That's what you say every time I ask you to do anything," he scoffed.

"Robin…"

"No Regina, I'm worried about you, you never go outside."

"I do, we had a picnic a couple of days ago."

"What in the garden? What about when we went to the beach and you didn't come with us, do you know how upset Roland was about that?"

"Well, I'm sorry I can't be the perfect girlfriend for you or mother for your son," she spat, dropping her book down onto the coffee table and standing up.

"Regina!"

"Robin, I love you! But I can't do it, I can't leave this house! I want to, I really want to! God, don't you think if I could leave the house and take Roland to the beach with you I would? Or have attended his play? Or just go on a normal date with you? I want all those things, but I can't leave." She took a shuddery breath as she stared at him, that was the first time she had told him that she loved him, the first time she had confessed her feelings.

"Why not?! I don't understand, help me to understand you!" He moved closer to her, cupping her cheek, "I love you too, but you're not letting me in, you need to give me something please."

"I can't leave this house," she whispered.

"That's what you've been saying, over and over again! Why Regina?! Tell me why!"

"Because I'm Dead!" she shouted, losing it completely, "I'm dead Robin! I can't leave this house because I am trapped here forever!"

"Seriously! That is the stupid response you are giving me right now, that you're dead?! You aren't dead Regina, your heart is beating, I felt it, you breathe, you're alive! You're insane!"

"I'm not insane," she cried, tears rolling down her cheeks, "Robin, I'm telling you the truth, I was murdered in this house! I was murdered right there!" She pointed to the entrance to the dining room, "you have to believe me, please!" she begged.

"You're crazy," he shook his head, tears in his eyes now too and she realised that everything they had had literately been obliterated there and then. "Get out."

"Robin, don't."

"Get out!"

"Please," she whispered.

He took hold of her arm and pulled her towards the door, opening it and pushing her, not forcefully but hard enough to get his point across, "leave Regina."

"Robin."

"Please, don't look at me like that," he sighed, taking her hand and leading her to the front gate.

"Don't do this," she sniffled, he was just about to take her over the perimeter of the house when his hand slipped from hers and she disappeared.

"Regina? Regina!"

She opened her eyes and she was in the back yard, she could hear him shouting for her, so hurried around the house, "Robin."

"What the hell was that?"

"I told you I couldn't leave."

"How the hell did you do that?"

"I didn't have to do anything, you tried to take me off the perimeter and out there I don't exist," she shrugged. She could see that he was completely freaking out, she had just disappeared before his eyes and there was no possible explanation for it, none that wasn't supernatural.

"I don't understand."

She reached for his hand and pulled him back inside, "where's your phone?" She asked.

"Here," he pulled it out of his pocket.

"Google me."

"What?"

"Go on, google search my name," she didn't want to have to do it this way, but if it was the only way to prove to him that she was telling the truth, she would have to, how else was he going to believe it, he would probably question his own sanity.

His hands were shaking as he typed in her name, he scanned the screen and his eyes went wide as he dropped the phone to the ground, "oh my god, Regina, you're…"

"Dead, I'm dead; he strangled me," she cried, "he squeezed until I stopped breathing."

"Oh my god," he was looking at her, tears rolling down his face as he cried, "you're dead," he cupped her cheek, "he killed you?"

"He did," she nodded, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let it go this far, I was supposed to be protecting you from the rest of them."

"Regina," he whispered, resting his forehead against hers, "you feel so alive."

"I know; when I'm with you I feel alive, you make me feel alive," she breathed, tracing the lines of his face, "you have to leave Robin, take Roland and leave."

"No," he shook his head, "I can't leave you here."

"You have no choice."

"Why can't I stay with you?"

"Because unfortunately, it's not just me, there are others, trust me, they aren't like me, they're crazy Robin and they want to hurt you, they don't care who you are, they enjoy murder." She needed him to leave, because she just couldn't risk it anymore.

"Oh my god, did you just tell him?"

"Not now Jefferson!" She yelled, turning around.

"Jefferson?" Robin questioned, "there's someone there?"

"Yes," she nodded, "he is a psychopathic killer."

"That's not very nice is it Regina," Jefferson shot forward and placed a knife at her throat as he allowed Robin to see him for the first time.

"Regina!"

"Robin, don't move," she stated holding her hands up in warning, the last thing she needed was Jefferson stabbing Robin because he was trying to protect a spirit who couldn't be harmed anyway, "listen to me, he can't hurt me."

He pressed the knife in and she felt a slight uncomfortable sensation, "Regina?"

"Aww, look at his little face, it's so cute that he cares for you and doesn't want to see your pretty little throat get slit open." Jefferson chuckled.

"Would you stop it already," she rolled her eyes as she looked at a horrified Robin, "he is a pain in the ass," Jefferson moved the knife and should she have been alive would have killed her, it stunned her a little bit and blood spurted from her neck. "Seriously, for fuck sake Jefferson, what are you doing?!"

"Regina! Oh my god!" Robin turned around and dropped to the ground, where he gagged and proceeded to throw up.

"Jefferson, go away! Go away!" Regina snapped, smacking him.

"I love scaring people." He smirked, before he followed orders.

She moved to rub her hand over Robin's back comfortingly, "Robin, it's fine," she whispered, "I'm fine."

"This is crazy, I'm losing it," he looked at her, "this is just an insane dream, please tell me it's a dream and that I didn't just watch you get your throat slit open."

"It happens," she shrugged.

"No, it doesn't," he turned around and looked at her, touching her neck, where the wound had already healed, "this isn't normal, oh my god, I think I'm going to throw up again."

"That's fine," she nodded, "Robin, I'm sorry, I know I should have told you about all this, about me being…"

"Dead, you're dead, oh my god, we've been together… I mean, we are together, we made love… what does that… how, just, how?!"

"I know you're freaked out right now," it was safe to say that Robin wasn't taking it well, at all, which was totally understandable.

"You told me, you said you were dead, that first night, you said and I laughed and it was true, oh my god. You were murdered."

"Yes," she whispered, moving closer to him. She really hoped that he didn't push her away, she didn't know how she would cope if they parted on bad terms, or if he was scared of her

"Everything makes sense now, I never thought I'd say that about learning that my girlfriend is a ghost."

"Yeah, well," she shrugged, hugging him gently, "where does this leave us?" She asked.

"I have no idea, I mean, you said that we are in danger if we stay here?"

"I've been keeping you both safe for the past month, Henry has been helping me best he could, he's been looking out for Roland."

"Henry is dead too?"

"I know, it's sad," Regina sighed, "but his parents are here, so it's not as bad for him as it is for some of the other children trapped here, some of them are all alone."

"How does this even work?" He asked, "I didn't believe, I…"

"It's this house, only this house."

Robin shuddered and stood up, "so is there anyone else in here with us right now?" He asked.

She looked around and shook her head, "no, most of them chill out in the basement, or attic, they don't like to interfere with the humans."

"I think you broke that rule."

"Not normally I don't," she sniggered, "I've been avoiding the home owners for nearly twenty years, then when you and Roland showed up, I decided that I was going to break the rules I set out for myself, I wanted to protect your son, I didn't protect Henry…"

"Daddy! Gina!"

She looked up at him wide eyed before they both ran upstairs, "Roland!" she shouted, Robin hot on her heels as they burst through the door to find a woman with black hair piled on top of her head, a gunshot wound embedded into the back of her skull.

"Mary!" Regina shouted grabbing her arm only for her to turn around and stare at her.

"There's a child in here," she stated, tilting her head looking at Regina with tears streaming from her eyes, "there's a child."

"Mary, he isn't your child though, is he?" Regina reminded, rubbing her arms, "he isn't your little girl is he?"

"He? I have a child."

"Yes."

"Emma."

"Yes, Emma," she nodded, knowing that the woman's child had been called Emma, but she was kidnapped when she was a little baby. The other Emma had been helping to control Mary, pretending that she was her long-lost daughter, "now come away from Roland."

"What the hell?" Robin shook his head.

"I want Emma!"

As if on cue, Emma appeared in the middle of the room, "hey, what's up… ooh shit, sorry," she stated, noticing Robin, "hi Emma Swan."

He just looked at her, mouth agape before staring back at Regina. "Emma, take your mother please."

"Not this again, how much longer am I going to have to do this?"

"For all eternity, now take her."

"Fine," she scoffed, "Mary, come on."

"Emma!"

"Yes, it's me, now come on, let's go find David, shall we?"

"Oh yes!"

With that the two disappeared in thin air and Regina looked towards the little boy who seemed confused and scared, "okay Roland…"

"Were they ghosts?" he asked, his voice shaking a little.

Regina moved to sit beside him, looking at Robin, asking for his permission to tell his son, he nodded reluctantly and she cleared her throat, her fingers beginning to run through the small boy's hair, "yes sweetheart."

"Daddy, you said ghosts weren't real!"

"Baby, the ghosts are not going to hurt you," she whispered, pressing her lips to his head, "in fact, watch," she moved into the middle of the room and became invisible, hearing a gasp from both Locksley boys as she removed Roland's favourite book from the shelf, "how about, I read you Robin Hood," she stated, not coming into view, so it simply appeared as though the book was floating in mid-air. She wanted to find a way to reassure him that he shouldn't be afraid of ghosts, especially not her. She kissed his head and dropped the book gently into his lap, before revealing herself again. "See."

Roland's big eyes were looking up at her as his mouth matched his father's, "Gina, you're a ghost?" he gasped, "a real-life ghost?"

"Yes," she nodded, "you're not scared of me, are you?"

"No! That is so cool! I want to be invisible!" he squealed hugging her, "are you a nice ghost? Like Casper?"

"I've never been called Casper before," she chuckled, hugging him back, "but Roland, you can't tell anyone okay."

"Why? My new mommy is a ghost." Her heart clenched at that and she smiled at him, looking to Robin, seeing a shocked look on his face, she knew they had a lot to talk about, especially after Roland had just said that. Truthfully it made her feel amazing, she'd never been anyone's mommy before and Roland thinking of her as his made her happy. She placed a kiss on his head and tucked his duvet over him.

"You still can't tell anyone okay, they wouldn't believe you," she stated, running her fingers through his hair, "story?"

"Yes," he snuggled up to her, "what else can you do?" he asked, looking up at her as his tiny fingers found hers.

"Well, the usual ghost things really, I can haunt people, turn invisible that kind of thing."

"So cool, I want to be a ghost too."

"No baby, you don't," she whispered, stroking his hair with her free hand, before turning to Robin.

"I'm going to leave you two to it, I think I need to go and think about somethings," he confessed, walking out of the room and leaving them to read their story. She watched him go and sighed, they definitely needed to talk.

Once Roland was asleep, she moved out of bed, tucking him in as Henry entered the room, sitting in a chair and pulling a book onto his lap, "I can watch him for you Gina."

"Thank you my little prince," she kissed his head and fluffed his hair, before leaving the room and going to find Robin. He was sat on the bed with his head in her hands and she sighed, "Robin?"

He looked up at her and took a deep breath, as he opened his arms for her to come to him, she slipped into bed and straddled his lap, hugging him as she rested her head on his shoulder, he cupped the back of her head carefully, "this is crazy," he whispered.

"I know," she agreed, kissing his shoulder.

"You're right here, I can feel you, touch you, kiss you."

"I know," she chuckled.

"I don't want to lose you, I want you to be Roland's mommy, I do, but how the hell is it supposed to work? We can't do normal couple things, like go on vacation, out for meals, the beach, cinema, what about Roland, you won't be able to go to any of his recitals, or his graduation."

"I thought that was what a video camera was for," she joked, nudging him playfully.

"Regina, serious."

"Sorry," she knew this was a serious matter, he was right, she wouldn't be able to do any of those things, the things a parent should do. "I can't do any of that, unless they fall on Halloween."

"What?"

"On Halloween, the dead may walk among the living, hence I can leave the house."

"You can?"

"Yes," she shrugged.

"I'm guessing you don't age."

"You'd be correct in that assumption, you can have me young and beautiful forever," she smirked.

"What if at some point I wanted to…"

"No, don't you dare even consider that." the smirk fell from her face.

"How did you know what I was going to say?"

"You were going to suggest joining me, I can tell from the look on your face."

"Whats so bad about that?"

"Urm, you can't leave this place Robin, you'd be stuck here."

"You'd be here."

"Shut up," she shoved him.

"So I take it you don't want me to leave anymore."

"I don't."

Robin sighed, "are we safe?"

"I don't know, all I can say is that I will do everything in my power to make sure you are."

"Good, well then I know that I want to stay, there's no way I'm leaving you here."

She grinned at him and pressed her lips to his, "do you want to know something about ghosts?" She asked, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth.

"What?"

"They get horny pretty easily," she smirked, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, is that so?" He laughed, "well then, I think we'll have to do something about that."

* * *

Three months past and Robin was coping better than she thought he would, he was now used to the fact that there was the odd random ghost in the house and Roland loved playing with the children, especially Henry and Violet, who were sometimes mean to him, especially when plying hide and seek, Regina would have to give him a helping hand and then they would moan at her for giving them away, but how was Roland supposed to find two invisible ghosts?

She was waiting for them to come home, cooking in the kitchen, so maybe she didn't actually have to eat to survive, but her boys did and she was more than happy to make them anything they might want. She hummed as she poured the bolognese over a layer of creamy sauce, before adding more pasta and repeating.

She danced in the kitchen as she flicked the radio on, "so what's a cooking good looking?"

She rolled her eyes, "Jefferson."

"Look, okay, you know I'm not trying to kill him anymore, god, I'm in counselling with Cassidy."

"Good, you need it," she scoffed.

"Regina, is this about slitting your throat."

"No," she laughed, "Jefferson, we both know you are insane, so why don't you stick to trying to kill other ghosts, if you have their permission. I'm pretty sure that someone in here will want to play with you."

"What about…"

"I don't want to play," she shook her head, sampling some of the chocolate sauce she had on the hob to trickle over dessert.

"Why not?"

"Because, I don't okay."

"Fine," he rolled his eyes.

Why did he choose to pester her? Sure, he'd given her a little break, but apparently, he was back to the same old annoying Jefferson, out to piss her off at any given opportunity. They heard a car pull up and she shooed him away, she was stirring the sauce when her boys came in, "mom!"

"In the kitchen," she shouted.

"You're doing it again," Roland chuckled.

"Doing what?" She asked.

"Mom, we can't see you."

"Oh yeah," she laughed, making herself visible, it was quite often that Robin and Roland would come home to see something hovering, this time it was a spoon mixing something on the hob.

"Hello," Roland, giggled hugging her legs.

"Hey baby," she played with his hair, he had started calling her mommy, but apparently, according to him he was too old to be calling her that, so it changed to mom, Robin was also dad now, which he had found strange, Regina had simply laughed and said that he was growing up. "Did you have a good day at school?" she asked as he stepped onto the little step that allowed him to reach the counter.

"Yes, did you know that it is Halloween next week?!" He stated excitedly.

"I did," she nodded, for her, Halloween couldn't come soon enough, she wanted some time out of this place.

"Hey babe," Robin walked in, dropping some groceries on the counter.

"Hi," she smiled, looking in the bag and seeing some ice cream and smores, "yum."

Robin smacked her hand gently, "hey you, they are for our camp out."

She stuck her tongue out at him, he had got it into his head that because they wanted her to go on a vacation with them, they were going to set up a tent in the back yard, next to the newly fitted pool, so that she could camp out with them, which was really cute and she was happy to go along with that plan, she was just glad they wanted to include her, that they had accepted her so quickly into their little family unit, she was mom, for the first time in her life, well not her life, but she had a family, she had people who loved her and she had never been happier.

* * *

As soon as midnight struck on October 30th it meant that it was the 31st, Regina shook Robin, "get up," she whispered, "come on sleepy head, I have twenty-four hours."

"Regina," he groaned, burying his head into his pillow.

"This is my one day a year! Come on! Get up!" she smacked him with her pillow and he sat up.

"I'm getting up, sheesh woman."

"I want to do everything," she giggled, getting dressed as she hurried onto the landing and to Roland's room, she pushed the door open and kissed his little cheeks, "Roland."

"Mom? Is it time?" He asked, she had told him about her plan and he was on board, it was the weekend, so the way she saw it, he had another day to recover before school and this was a rare occasion.

"Yes, how would you like to go to the beach first?" she questioned.

"Yes let's go!" He nodded, getting out of bed, already in his jeans and a shirt.

"What are you doing?" she laughed, he had definitely been in his pyjamas when she had put him to bed, the little monkey must have changed when she had left the room.

"I thought we could go quicker," he smirked, pulling on her arm, "daddy come on!"

Regina lifted him into her arms, "yes, I want you to show me everything, your school, not that we can go in, but you can show me."

"I will."

"Robin come on," Regina laughed as they hurried down the stairs and a tired looking Robin slumped out of the bedroom.

* * *

They did literally everything they could think of, they went to the beach, to the mall and did some shopping, saw a movie about a fish that got lost, then they went bowling and Regina won, which she got slightly over excited about. After that they headed to the park and Robin pushed Regina and Roland on the swings.

The last thing on their list was go out for a romantic meal, so Roland went to a Halloween party at his friend's house, whilst Robin and Regina went to a nice restaurant, she wore the red dress that she had worn the night they met and applied a lot of concealer to her bruised neck. She sat opposite him and smiled as she found his hand across the table. "This is nice,"

"It is isn't it," he agreed, looking around at the posh restaurant, "it's crazy having you out of the house."

"I know," she nodded, "I feel so free, like I can do anything," a sad look graced her features, "I just wish…"

"That you could do this all the time?" he asked, knowing her inside out by now, he knew exactly how she was feeling all the time and she had to say, it was impressive, she liked it. "me too."

"But, if I hadn't died, I wouldn't have met you and Roland, so I guess in every cloud there's a silver lining, plus I would have been quite old, like fifty."

"You'd have still been hot."

"Ooh, do you like fifty-year-olds? I didn't know you were into that, maybe red was wrong about you, maybe you wanted her in her granny form."

"What?" he asked, letting out a little laugh as he tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Red, she likes to test the men, if they see her as a hot maid, they usually stray from their partners, but, if they see her as an old woman, then they don't." She confessed, thanking the waiter as he placed their meals down in front of them.

"How did I not know that?"

"I didn't tell you," she smirked, picking up her fork and cutting her steak.

"That's sneaky madam, you tested me."

"No I didn't," she shook her head, "Red tested you, I didn't even know she was doing it," she moaned at the flavours and nodded, "now that is nice."

"Yeah?"

"Hmm."

He chuckled and stared at her, causing her heart to beat all that faster, she loved it when he looked at her that way, displaying all his emotions for her just like that, his eyes told her everything, they were the windows to his soul and she could see it perfectly, it was the other half to hers, she knew that now, she knew that everything happened for a reason. "why are you staring at me?" she whispered, "do I have something in my teeth?"

"No, you just looked really beautiful that's all," he shrugged, finding her hand across the table, "I love you."

"I love you too, thank you, for staying with me and not freaking out."

"Oh I freaked out."

"Hardly."

"I threw up."

"Yeah well, you had seen Jefferson slit my throat," she used her fingers as quote marks, "all in all, I think you took it very well. Weirdly well actually, almost as though you're into spirit girls."

"I'd like to get into one spirit girl in particular."

"Dirty boy," she tutted, raising her eyebrows at him playfully. "I'm just going to go to the bathroom," she stated, standing from the table.

"Babe, you don't even…"

"I'm going to make sure that my neck is covered," she scoffed, he knew that ghosts didn't have to take bathroom breaks and she wasn't even going to the bathroom, just because it was Halloween, didn't mean she was stuck in her human form, she quickly became invisible and moved back over to the table running her hands over his shoulder, "seems it was," she breathed, kissing his ear.

"Regina, what are you doing?" he whispered.

"Nothing," she stated, "just having a little fun," she bit down on his earlobe gently, before moving to straddle his lap, not even visible to him, never mind anyone else in the restaurant. She kissed across his cheeks, before reaching his lips and grinding against him.

"This is going to look super weird," he stated, his hand trying to touch her.

"I know, I should probably stop, right?"

"Yes."

"Shame, that could have been good, for the both of us," she moved off his lap before walking back to a secluded area and making herself visible again.

Just as she was back at the table, she saw Robin gesture to a waiter and then to their plates, "what are you doing?" She asked, it was her turn to be confused.

"Getting this wrapped up, I need to take you home right now."

"What why?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows, it was only nine thirty, she still had two and a half hours of her day left.

"Because I need you."

"Oh," she grinned, she was okay with that, she needed him too, but then she remembered something, "we need to pick Roland up."

"It's on the way."

"Good," she picked up her purse as he took the doggy bag from the waiter, "let's go."

"Yes," she took his hand and slipped into the car, ready to get home and let Robin make love to her, which would be the perfect end to the perfect day.

* * *

Robin carried Roland from the car into the house as she followed behind, locking the front door, before ascending the stairs with her hand on Robin's lower back. She opened Roland's bedroom door and Robin laid him down in his bed, they then proceeded to get him out of his ghost costume, he had insisted upon it, he was her little alive ghost. Once the costume was gone, they both sat down on the edge of his bed as Regina ran her fingers through his hair and hummed gently. Robin kissed her shoulder as they simply watched their little boy sleep for a little while.

"Do you want to go to bed?" he whispered in her ear, rubbing her hip lightly.

"Yes please," she nodded, pressing a kiss to her son's head, before standing up and leaning against Robin as they walked to their bedroom. "I love you," she stated, stopping at the entrance to their room and cupping his cheek.

"I love you too."

Regina realised that even in death, there was life and she had never been happier to still be there for the ride.


End file.
